SAT Reading & Writing: Identify trends or patterns in quantitative data
22+ practice questions in Praczo
The concept, explained
- 1
A trend is the overall direction of the data (increasing, decreasing, flat, or fluctuating). A pattern is a repeating relationship (cyclical, seasonal, or grouped).
- 2
Read the axis labels and units first — misreading a chart is the single biggest cause of wrong answers on these questions.
- 3
Describe the trend in plain language before looking at choices: "revenue rose steadily from 2015 to 2020, then dipped in 2021."
- 4
Quantify when possible. "The value roughly doubled" or "grew by about 15%" is a far stronger claim than "increased."
- 5
Watch for choices that overstate the trend ("every year," "in all regions") when the data only partly supports the claim.
- ✗ Describing a single data point (the highest or lowest value) as if it were the overall trend.
- ✗ Confusing an upward trend in percentages with an upward trend in raw totals — a rising share can coincide with a falling total.
- ✗ Ignoring the time window: a short-term dip inside a long-term rise does not "refute" the long-term trend.
SAT-style practice
A table lists annual solar installations (in gigawatts) for a country: 2018: 10, 2019: 14, 2020: 19, 2021: 25, 2022: 34. Which statement is best supported by the data?
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